FAA Proposes Penalty Against Skywest Airlines

The FAA is proposing a $295,750 civil penalty against SkyWest Airlines for allegedly violating DOT drug-and-alcohol testing regulations. The agency alleges SkyWest failed to include more than 150 safety-sensitive employees in its random drug-testing pool. Further, SkyWest allegedly failed to receive verified negative drug test results for two other employees before hiring one for and transferring the other to safety-sensitive positions. The FAA also alleges SkyWest subjected three employees who were not in safety-sensitive positions to post-accident drug tests that are applicable only to safety-sensitive employees and then improperly cancelled a return-to-duty test because it was not directly observed.